The Guys Come Back With a Vengence on Idol

I was really hoping that Idol would open tonight with the judges congratulating Jennifer Hudson, and maybe even an apology from Simon…gosh, that would have been great. But not so much – Seacrest extended a congrats from everyone, and still it was all about them (something about how it shows the caliber of talent on the show). What a shame.

For some reason, everyone tonight had to dedicate their performances to someone that inspires them. Aside from it being annoying, I just don’t see why we needed to hear so many of them explain why they would dedicate their song to their parents. We get it. Really.

Phil started the show off really strong. I’m not sure what Simon’s deal was – I’m so sick of him telling people that they don’t sound unique. This early in the show, I think the better strategy is just to come out and sing well, rather than focusing on trying to be different. Jared sounded good too. I didn’t get the whole hand thing though – so corny!

In the name of all things holy, AJ, please don’t dance. EVER. Wow. The singing was good, but I was so distracted by the strange attempt at dancing. You kind of knew where he gets it from when the showed a shot of his parents clapping on the wrong beat. Sanjaya embraced the fact that a lot of people have called him an “Indian Michael Jackson.” I’m glad that the judges commented on how strange he looked. His performance wasn’t just bad, it was boring. It didn’t look like the crowd cared at all. I’ll be shocked if he doesn’t go home this week.

I continue to love Chris Sligh. I loved his song choice, and he sounded amazing. I do wonder, though, about the exchange between him and Simon at the very end. Did you hear it? Chris said “I’ve been saved by a woman,” and just as the music came back on, Simon added “so have I.” Odd. I didn’t like the song choice that Nick made, but he sang it really well. I think he’ll stick around another week.

What is the deal with Seacrest tonight? First, he tells Chris Sligh that his performance will keep him out of the doghouse for a month. Then, after they show Nick’s super-cute girlfriend, he turned to Nick and said “nice work buddy!”. Very very strange.

Blake continues to amaze me. He was so good again tonight, and I loved the middle of his song. I also completely disagree with Simon – it was so good and so original. Simon just needs to get with the program tonight. Brandon sang a really different arrangement of “Time After Time.” It wasn’t a great performance; I think the song really hurt him. It’s great that he was feeling the song, but he needs to make sure that he sings it well.

Choosing “Geek in the Pink” was a risky choice, but it paid off for Chris Richardson. Wow. Such a good performance – I actually agree with Simon that Chris is the one to beat. Sundance closed out the show with a performance that was much better than last week (“less crappy” as he put it). I’m guessing that he caught wind of the fact that his picture was on the front page of votefortheworst.com all weekend. Much better job.

Overall, the guys were about a million percent better this week than last. The best performances of the night were definitely the Chrises (still don’t think that looks right, by the way) and Blake. It’s still too early for me to be motivated enough to pick up the phone, but they’re the three I would vote for if I were. And I think that Sanjaya and Brandon will be the two going home on Thursday. At least, I hope so.